Universe Contest

It’s rare for a band to be great and be the first band its members are in. Not to say that the bands that the guys from Universe Contest have been in weren’t damn good, but something is going on with this incarnation that never quite clicked completely in the way it does now. The press has been universally (pardon the pun) positive in its praise of the band. Fans in the crowd have been rowdy, smiling and singing along, and the band has found itself in a position of having multiple songwriters that can bring something to the table, creating an infectious sound that varies from discord to harmony within the same song in a way that always keeps the listener enthralled.

The lineup includes Tim Carr (vocals, guitar), Joe Humpal (vocals, guitar), Brenton Neville (drums, vocals), John Freidel (keys,vocals) and Jon Dell (bass, vocals). They’ve been compared to Modest Mouse, MGMT and Dismemberment Plan, yet a most recent review said “Take away the Modest Mouse overhang and they’re harder to pin down. As the name implies, they’re spacey, but not shoegaze spacey or Bowie spacey. Spacey like a group of Midwestern hillbillies who got ahold of a stack of Popular Science magazines and figured out how to build their own spaceship from abandoned grain silos, Case tractors parts and the cockpit from a hollowed-out ’73 Maverick. I can see them now sitting on the launchpad in their overalls, their hippie hair sticking out of their gold-painted football helmets. 10.9.8.7…” (Lazy-I, Omaha)

In the past 18 months the band has already toured regionally to places such as Madison, Chicago, Sioux Falls and St. Louis and is slated to play at the upcoming Hullabaloo Festival, Maha Music Festival and Omaha Entertainment & Arts Awards Showcase along with additional regional dates. Download Universe Contest’s self-titled debut album as well as a four-song EP for free on their website at www.universecontest.com.

Recommended listens: Snake Stand, Relephants, Curf Sity, Someone Else, Dying

Website : http://www.universecontest.com
Facebook : http://www.facebook.com/universecontest
Bandcamp : http://www.winners.bandcamp.com

Videos:

Live at the Spaceship in Chicago: http://youtu.be/r6f021FFZ4Y
Live at the Spaceship in Chicago: http://youtu.be/ELs4Vor9S30
LIve at the Gallery Bar in Nebraska: http://youtu.be/YODOdRRj9II

Press Reviews:

"My biggest discovery Friday was Universe Contest, who were captivating and entertaining at the Bourbon Theatre's Rye Room. I don't have a quick, clever description of the music -- it's kinda poppy, then would shift into some serious rock and sprawl into guitarland. Whatever you call it, I liked it a lot and the band is relatively new -- with great promise. Best new band I have seen in a long time. Exciting-interesting-sonically explosive." L. Kent Wolgamott, Lincoln Journal Star

"The best new find of the night was at The Bourbon Theater Rye Room where Universe Contest was playing. The band (which I am told are former members of Gooses) were exciting, interesting and explosive sonically. They were appealing and catchy though they did not color within any lines or play nicely with the formula for current indie music that has been thoroughly mapped out. This was one of those moments where people were crawling over each other to see the band play with a ferocious energy only to drop down to more somber moments at the stop of a drumstick. I had to climb up some stairs (also full of people) and hold on to a bar with one hand just to catch glimpses of the group. I have listened to their album online three times today (winners.bandcamp.com/) and this is one of the most interesting and exciting bands I have heard out of the area in a long time. I would travel to Lincoln again just to see them, though I hope we will be seeing many more Omaha appearances in the future." - Marq Manner, Shout! Magazine Omaha

“If all of indie rock was laid out as a coloring book, Universe Contest would be the kid with bright neon c